EEA Family Permit

This category was closed following the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU). We have left this page here for legacy purposes. You should review the EU Settlement Status and EUSS Family Permit pages which are the current relevant categories. ***

An EEA Family Permit is an immigration document issued to a non European Economic Area (EEA) national, who is a family member of an EEA national pursuing specified activities in another member state. It has its legal basis from the Free Movement Directive 2004/38/EC (the Directive).

The aim of the Directive was to enable nationals of member states of the European Community to move freely from one member state to another in order to live, study or work with their families to support the ‘common market’ or in other words, to promote ‘Freedom of Movement’ between member states, where the Directive was engaged, in pursuance of the economic aim to establish the market.

The UK has transposed the Directive into the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 (EEA Regulations 2006). It should be noted that the EEA Regulations 2006 were not a literal transposition of the Directive, but was the UK government’s interpretation of it, which led to litigation. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the final arbiter of disputes relating to the interpretation of the Directive.

The EEA Regulations 2006 allowed EEA nationals and their families to enter the UK for up to 3 months. If an EEA national intended to stay for more than 3 months he had to either seek work, or work (through both employment or self employment), study or be ‘economically self sufficient’ – these are commonly referred to as pursing an ‘EEA Treaty Right’.

If an EEA national pursued an EEA Treaty Right, then his spouse and other family members have the ‘Right’ under EEA law to also live and work in the UK.

The EEA national or their non EEA family members did not have to formally apply for documentation to evidence their right to stay in the UK once the EEA national exercises the EEA Treaty Right, but should have done so for administrative reasons as the EEA Family Permit issued in the UK was evidence that they could enter, live and work here.

The EEA national was not required to apply for any documentation in advance of his travel to the UK – all that was required was the production of his valid passport or ID card on entry.

Once in the UK an EEA national who had engaged EEA laws, could have applied for an EEA Residence Certificate to evidence his right to live in the UK.

EEA Family Permit

The EEA Family Permit was issued to family members and should have been applied overseas. The EEA Family Permit would normally be issued to the family member where the EEA national was exercising an EEA Treaty Right.

Once issued, the EEA Family Permit was valid for 6 months. If the non EEA national had an EEA Family Permit they should have been admitted to the UK. If the non EEA national travelled to the UK without an EEA Family Permit then he would have to satisfy an Immigration Officer of his right to enter the UK and therefore risks non admission to the UK.

Once admitted to the UK, the non EEA national could then apply for an EEA Residence Card.

An EEA national wishing to stay in the UK with non-EEA family members must demonstrate that they are exercising a right guaranteed under the Treaty.

An EEA national can exercise Treaty rights through:

– employment;

– self-employment;

– study*;

– self-sufficiency*.

* Individuals who exercised Treaty rights in the UK on the basis of study or self-sufficiency had to hold comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the United Kingdom which covers themselves and any dependants.

Unlike other relationship based immigration categories, the partners of EEA nationals did not have to satisfy the onerous requirements relating to minimum income and English language competence.

The definition of “family member” included spouses, civil partners, children up to the age of 21 and dependant parents.

Children over the age of 21, parents that cannot show they are dependent, and other relatives were defined as “extended family members”.

Dependence in this instance means either:

– the person is residing in an EEA State in which the EEA national also resides and is dependent upon the EEA national or is a member of his household; or

– the person is accompanying/joining or has already joined the EEA national in the UK and continues to be dependent upon him or to be a member of his household.

Students are only allowed to be accompanied by their partner and/or children to the UK.

Unmarried or same sex partners are considered to be “extended family members” for the purpose of the EEA regulations. Rather than having to demonstrate dependence, these individuals must show that they have formed a “durable relationship” with their EEA national partner. This is usually satisfied by showing that you have lived together for at least 2 years. This period can be less if, for example, you have a child together.

Non-EEA national fiancé or proposed civil partners can apply for an EEA Family Permit but the EEA national living in the UK MUST hold either permanent residence or a Residence Document. However, please note that this requirement will change from 6 April 2014, after which an EEA national MUST hold a document certifying permanent residence.

An EEA Family Permit could only be obtained from outside the UK.

If you are already in the UK, you should apply for an EEA Residence Card.

Applicants had to submit an online application form and original evidence to support the relationship to the EEA national and their exercise of Treaty rights in the UK.

Once in the UK, you an applicant could apply to the Home Office for an EEA Residence Card to extend their stay for a period of 5 years.

A non-EEA national family member would be deemed to hold permanent residence after 5 years in the UK so long as the EEA national had continued to reside in the UK and exercised an economic activity described above.

Although not obliged to lodge an application, an individual could apply for a permanent residence card.

However a document certifying permanent residence or a permanent residence card issued by the Home Office was required to apply for naturalisation as a British citizen.